Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble (+ Winter Links)

Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble | A Sweet Spoonful

This past week involved a lot of time with file folders and receipts, readying and finishing tax documents. I’m a big fan of “clearing the decks” at home and at work: I try to get bills out right on time, generally hate clutter, love a Goodwill run to get rid of things we’re not using around the house — so a particular time of year that forces you to revisit all of the stressful financial and business questions that you thought you’d already put to bed? No thanks. At some point last year, my youngest sister got her first credit card and had some questions about how all of the interest, payments and rewards work. I spent some time trying to explain it to her and she ended the call by letting me know how truly overwhelming it is to be an adult. That’s generally how I feel about taxes.

So in between calls to my bookkeeper and filing receipts, I polished up on the fine skill of internet-puttering and cleaned up my Pinterest boards (both highly pressing tasks, obviously) and in doing so, realized I haven’t shared a list of inspiring links with you in awhile, so let’s do that today. And I thought it was high time I shared this special kale salad with you, too; I’ve been making a version of this salad for weeks now with whatever odds and ends we have in the fridge and it’s been the perfect refueling lunch. I actually start looking forward to eating it even as I’m drinking my morning coffee, despite knowing it will be many hours until I pull it all together. I think you’re going to like it. 

Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble | A Sweet Spoonful

I’m not sure about you, but the produce at our farmers market has been largely cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts and a few root vegetables. Hello, February. That being said, there’s a lot of different ways to get in on the February action, and I think this salad has much of the best our season has to offer: hearty kale; sweet little bits of apple; bright, snappy fennel; vibrant cabbage and parsley. At times I’ll swap in radishes for the apple or a big handful of grated carrots. I’ve been pondering adding citrus next time around. In other words, the salad is forgiving: whatever you’re most excited about that gets you out of the occasional seasonal doldrums is a good inclusion. The whole thing is tossed with a lemony tahini dressing that I’ve come to really love — and this version is topped with a Sunflower Crumble I just read about over on My New Roots.

Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble | A Sweet Spoonful

This Sunflower Crumble has Winter Salad Game Changer written all over it. It’s a quick mash-up of sunflower seeds, coconut oil, nutritional yeast and a few spices all pulsed together in the food processor. While it has a slightly sweet fragrance from the coconut oil, it’s still largely savory and crunchy and wakes up a February salad brilliantly. We’ve also learned it’s pretty wonderful on toast, soft scrambled eggs or sprinkled on top of a creamy soup. I have a hunch it’d be wonderful on roasted vegetables, too. Thankfully the recipe for the Sprinkle yields more than you need for this salad so you can go wild with the stuff.

Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble | A Sweet Spoonful

Now for a few links. I’m not as organized as I’d like to be with these lists, and perhaps some day I can come up with a more diligent schedule to share them with you. For now, I let them add up on one of my desktop Sticky Notes until I have enough to pass along. I hope you have a wonderful week, friends.

Oliver Sachs on Learning He Has Cancer
On Being Podcast with Mary Oliver
Coffee!
This beautiful splurge
Invisibilia (Our Computers, Ourselves)
This Baking Book (I want to visit!)
Broad City (If you like Girls … )
Amy Chaplin’s Oat Walnut Marmalade Squares
Time for a Portland road trip
New Tech City’s Bored and Brilliant Challenge (I’m ashamed to say I failed on Day 3).
My next sewing project
Sweatshirts

Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble

Kale Power Salad with Sunflower Crumble

  • Yield: 4 (large portion); 6 (side portion)
  • Prep time: 15 mins
  • Cook time: 5 mins
  • Inactive time: 5 mins
  • Total time: 25 mins

This salad is best eaten the day it’s made. If you wanted to prepare it in advance the day before, just wait to dice the apples and dress /sprinkle the salad until you’re ready to serve. If you don’t have coconut oil on hand for the Crumble, I suspect it would be just as delicious with olive oil, so feel free to experiment.

Ingredients

For the Dressing:

1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons tahini
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt, to taste

For the Sunflower Crumble:

1 cup / 130 g sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

For the Salad:

1 bunch lacinato kale, finely shredded
1 medium apple, cored, julienned, and diced
1/2 bunch flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/4 small head red cabbage, finely shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and finely sliced

Instructions

In a small bowl or mason jar, combine the shallot, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before stirring mustard and tahini and whisking in the olive oil. Taste and season with with a pinch of salt. If the dressing seems to thick for your liking, feel free to whisk in a little more olive oil, 1 teaspoon at a time.

To make the crumble: In a large dry skillet, toast the sunflower seeds over medium heat, tossing often so they don’t burn, about 3-5 minutes. Remove fro heat and transfer the seeds to a large plate to cool completely. Place the seeds in a food processor with the remaining crumble ingredients and pulse several times to combine and chop up some of the seeds. Set aside.

Combine all of the salad ingredients into a very large salad bowl. Toss the salad with the dressing. Sprinkle a large handful of Sunflower Crumble on top and serve. Sprinkle additional crumble on top as desired. When dressed, salad is really best served the day it is made.

Comments

  1. Charlotte

    Links for you in return!
    Since you sew you might be interested in this: http://shop.grainlinestudio.com/products/linden-sweatshirt

    And my favourite fox quilt pattern...
    https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/65143747/red-fox-paper-piecing-quilt-pattern-pdf?ref=shop_home_active_6

  2. sarah | little house pantry

    Yup yup! I am making this crumble stat. I'm trying to eat all the winter kale out of my garden since it's going to be time to plant sooner rather than later in sunny Seattle. This should help speed things right along!

  3. Kate

    I love the sound of that sprinkle, and a slightly lighter option to put it on salad than macaroni cheese! Gorgeousness.

  4. momgordon

    I am spending the early morning time going to all the links you suggested. Since we tend to be interested in or like similar things, this is a real treat! Thanks honey!!

  5. Adriana

    Thanks for your recipes, I would really love to try these one, there is so much kale! Is there something you could suggest instead of nutritional yeast? Could it be parmesan?

    1. megang

      Hi, Adriana- Good question! The nutritional yeast definitely gives it that super savory quality. I'd say if you couldn't find any that parmesan would be a pretty good substitute ... wouldn't be the same color / flavor, obviously, but I still think it'd be really nice. Good luck! ~Megan

  6. Meg @MegBollenback.com

    I've been in a lunch rut recently (I blame it on too much cabbage, root veggies, etc.), but this is inspiring and casts some of these February items in a new light. I like the look of the sunflower crumble especially. Thank you for sharing, and good luck on finishing your taxes and sewing projects!

    1. megang

      Thank you, Meg!

  7. Ingredient1

    This sunflower crumble is genius! Cannot wait to try it on salads and roasted veggies - as suggested!

  8. Stephanie

    Just made this and, for anyone who doesn't like nutritional yeast, it tastes great without it. I put a bit more coconut oil in the crumble and left out the yeast. A fantastic salad!

    1. megang

      Awesome, Stephanie! Thanks so much for sharing ... I was meaning to make it with just Parmesan this week to share the results, but so glad you enjoyed it with a tweak. ~Megan

  9. Anna

    I made this the other day and just finished it up last night. It was really tasty, although I omitted the crumble and used toasted walnuts instead. I suggest adding fresh squeezed lemon or a white balsamic vinegar splash before serving to spritz it up a bit, but otherwise I will definitely make again and again. Thank you!

  10. kristie {birch and wild}

    I have also been making a lot of kale salads, as kale lends itself so nicely to whatever ingredients you have to go along with it. Sometimes I make a slaw, sometimes I make utilize roasted veggies. This crumble is incredible. I just made it after reading your post and I want to put it on everything!

  11. Leanne

    I made this salad last night and it was a hit! DELICIOUS :)
    I substituted Parmigiano-Reggiano for the nutritional yeast with great success.

    1. megang

      Awesome, Leanne! Thank you for letting me know. So glad you all enjoyed it, and I look forward to trying the crumble with Parmesan instead. ~Megan

  12. Rachel

    I made this for dinner tonight and my husband and I loved it! My 19-month-old daughter shocked me by demanding several bites. Baby's first salad!

    1. megang

      Oh that makes me so happy, Rachel. I'm so glad you all enjoyed it. AND Baby's first salad! That's big. Have a great rest of the week, ~Megan

  13. lizykat

    Fabulous salad!! We dress each bowl as served so able to save aside the balance for next day. The mix of the leafy part, the taste of the crumble and the dressing ... absolutely on the repeat often list. thank you so much for posting.

  14. Marisa

    I've been following your blog for a few years, and this is probably the first time I've commented, but when worlds collide, I must! This salad looks great, and I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Hartman's patterns-working on the Aviatrix Medallion now and finished The Sewing Circle Tote and Iron Cozy about a month ago! Have fun with the foxes :)

    1. megang

      Hi Marisa! Oh I'll have to check out the patterns you mention. Yes, Elizabeth is amazing - so modern and creative. I've hit a bit of a lull here over the past few weeks, so need to get some new fabrics and get started again. Thanks for the sweet note, and have a great week! ~Megan

Join the Discussion

Healthy Comfort Food

Thai Carrot, Coconut and Cauliflower Soup

Thai Carrot, Coconut and Cauliflower Soup

People describe raising young kids as a particular season in life. I hadn't heard this until we had a baby, but it brought me a lot of comfort when I'd start to let my mind wander, late at night between feedings, to fears that we'd never travel internationally again or have a sit-down meal in our dining room. Would I ever eat a cardamom bun in Sweden? Soak in Iceland? I loved the heck out of our tiny Oliver, but man what had we done?! Friends would swoop in and reassure us that this was just a season, a blip in the big picture of it all. They promised we'd likely not even remember walking around the house in circles singing made-up songs while eating freezer burritos at odd hours of the day (or night). And it's true.

Oliver is turning two next month, and those all-encompassing baby days feel like a different time, a different Us. In many ways, dare I say it, Toddlerhood actually feels a bit harder. Lately Oliver has become extremely opinionated about what he will and will not wear -- and he enforces these opinions with fervor. Don't get near the kid with a button-down shirt. This week at least. He's obsessed with his rain boots and if it were up to him, he'd keep them on at all times, especially during meals. He insists on ketchup with everything (I created a damn monster), has learned the word "trash" and insists on throwing found items away on his own that really, truly are not trash. I came to pick him up from daycare the other day and he was randomly wearing a bike helmet -- his teacher mentioned he'd had it on most of the day and really, really didn't want to take it off. The kid has FEELINGS. I love that about him, and wouldn't want it any other way. But, man it's also exhausting.

Read More
Cheesy Quinoa Cauliflower Bake

Cheesy Quinoa Cauliflower Bake

I just finished washing out Oliver's lunchbox and laying it out to dry for the weekend. My favorite time of day is (finally) here: the quiet of the evening when I can actually talk to Sam about our day or sit and reflect on my own thoughts after the inevitable dance party or band practice that precedes the bedtime routine lately. Before becoming pregnant for the second time, I'd have had a glass of wine with the back door propped open right about now -- these days though, I have sparkling water or occasionally take a sip from one of Sam's hard ciders. Except now the back door's closed and we even turned on the heat for the first time yesterday. The racing to water the lawn and clean the grill have been replaced by cozier dinners at home and longer baths in the evening. You blink and it's the first day of fall. 

Read More
Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio

Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio

I'd heard from many friends that buying a house wasn't for the faint of heart. But I always shrugged it off, figuring I probably kept better files or was more organized and, really, how hard could it be? Well, I've started (and stopped) writing this post a good fifteen times which may indicate something. BUT! First thing's first: we bought a house! I think! I'm pretty sure! We're still waiting for some tax transcripts to come through and barring any hiccough with that, we'll be moving out of our beloved craftsman in a few weeks and down the block to a great, brick Tudor house that we wanted the second we laid eyes on it. The only problem: it seemed everyone else in Seattle had also laid eyes on it, and wanted it equally as much. I'm not really sure why the homeowner chose us in the end. Our offer actually wasn't the highest, but apparently there were some issues with a few of them. We wrote a letter introducing ourselves and describing why we'd be the best candidates and why we were so drawn to the house; we have a really wonderful broker who pulled out all the stops, and after sifting through 10 offers and spending a number of hours deliberating, they ended up going with ours. We were at a friend's book event at the time when Sam showed me the text from our broker and I kind of just collapsed into his arms. We were both in ecstatic denial (wait, is this real?! Did we just buy a house?) and celebrated by getting chicken salad and potato salad from the neighborhood grocery store and eating it, dazed, on our living room floor. Potato salad never tasted so good. 

Read More
Smoky Butternut Squash and Three Bean Chili

Smoky Butternut Squash and Three Bean Chili

If your house is anything like ours, last week wasn't our most inspired in terms of cooking. We're all suffering from the post-election blues -- the sole upside being Oliver's decision to sleep-in until 7 am for the first time in many, many months; I think he's trying to tell us that pulling the covers over our heads and hibernating for awhile is ok. It's half-convincing. For much of the week, instead of cooking, there'd been takeout pizza and canned soup before, at week's end, I decided it was time to pour a glass of wine and get back into the kitchen. I was craving something hearty and comforting that we could eat for a few days. Something that wouldn't remind me too much of Thanksgiving because, frankly, I can't quite gather the steam to start planning for that yet. It was time for a big bowl of chili.

Read More
To Talk Porridge

To Talk Porridge

Porridge is not the sexiest of breakfasts, it's true. It doesn't have a stylish name like strata or shakshuka, and it doesn't have perfectly domed tops like your favorite fruity muffin. It doesn't crumble into delightful bits like a good scone nor does it fall into buttery shards like a well-made croissant. But when you wake up and it's 17 degrees outside (as it has been, give or take a few, for the last week), there's nothing that satisfies like a bowl of porridge or oatmeal. It's warm and hearty and can be made sweet or savory with any number of toppings. The problem? Over the years, it's gotten a bad rap as gluey or gummy or just downright boring or dutiful -- and it's because not everyone knows the secrets to making a great pot of warm morning cereal. So let's talk porridge (also: my cookbook comes out this month! So let's take a peek inside, shall we?)

Read More